I agree with your point and I just wanted to add that the fact that we have to add in little details like "I prefer Python" just to be taken seriously says more about hacker elitism than it does about PHP.
Why did you say that? To me it feels like you said it so people would take you seriously as a "real" biker. Because surely a "real" biker wouldn't actually enjoy walking unless they were forced, right?
I do genuinely prefer Python. I picked it up when Django first started making noise and I really enjoyed working with Python (not so much Django). Now I mainly use Python to mess around with PyGame.
Its not a difficult to thing to say. For all of PHP's ease there are little niggles which get you down. Really simple things. Is a function called functionname or function_name. Is it ($needle, $haystack) or ($haystack, $needle).
Python is neater and I like neat.
Thought of that, Sherlock? Or should I say Bekas?